Device for recording or reproducing signal on or from disk with a releasing mechanism

ABSTRACT

In a signal recording or reproduction device for disks, release means for disengaging a lock slide from a holder when the holder is pivotally moved upward from a lowered position has a release piece slanting with respect to a plane containing a path of pivotal movement of the holder, attached at a base end thereof to a chassis and deformable by deflecting outward. The release piece extends from its base end along cartridge inserting and unloading directions. The release piece escapes from the lock slide by being deflected outward for deformation by contact with the lock slide when the slide is moved with the descent of the holder, and restores itself elastically upon passage of the lock slide. The lock slide as brought into contact with the lower end of the release piece when the holder is pivotally raised from the lowered position is disengaged from the holder by being so deflected for deformation.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to signal recording or reproductiondevices for disks enclosed in cartridges.

BACKGROUND ART

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C are side elevations of a conventional signalrecording or reproduction device for disks. A holder 2 is pivotallysupported at one end thereof by a chassis 1 provided with a turntable73. A cartridge 6 having the disk enclosed therein is inserted into theholder 2. A lock slide 4 to be pushed by the cartridge 6 is provided onthe holder 2 and movable in cartridge inserting and unloadingdirections. As will be described later, the lock slide 4 holds thecartridge 6 as inserted in the holder 2, and is biased in the cartridgeunloading direction by a tension spring 8 in engagement with the slide 4and the holder 2. In the following description, the cartridge insertingdirection will be referred to as “front,” and the unloading direction as“rear.”

The lock slide 4 is provided at its front end with an engaging hook 40which is downwardly deflectable for deformation. Positioned in front ofthe engaging hook 40 is a lug 23 projecting from the holder 2. When thelock slide 4 is moved forward against the tension spring 8 by theinsertion of the cartridge into the holder 2, the engaging hook 40deflects once and thereafter comes into engagement with the lug 23 asseen in FIG. 11B. When the holder 2 is pivotally moved down, theturntable 73 on the chassis 1 faces the bottom surface of the holder 2,and the device is made ready to record or reproduce signals.

Provided on the chassis 1 is release means 10 which will be describedlater. When the holder 2 is raised from a lowered position as seen inFIG. 1C, the release means 10 disengages the hook 40 from engagementwith the lug 23. The lockslide 4 is moved rearward by the tension spring8 and returned to the position shown in FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the release means 10 and a primaryportion of the holder 2. The engaging hook 40 of the lock slide 4 has apush plate 41 projecting laterally from the hood base end. The releasemeans 10 is formed by bending a metal plate. A support wall 12upstanding from the chassis 1 has a release piece 11 projecting inwardand slanting downward.

FIG. 13 is a view of the release means 10 of FIG. 12 as it is seen fromthe direction of arrow A. With the downward pivotal movement of theholder 2, the push plate 41 of the lock slide 4 pushes the release piece11 downward as shown in FIG. 13. An allowance for the engagement of thepush plate 41 with the release piece 11 is indicated at L. Since theengaging hook 40 shown in FIG. 12 is restrained from deforming by upwarddeflection by contact with the lower surface of the lug 23, the releasepiece 11 is temporarily deflected counterclockwise as indicated in achain line in FIG. 13, permitting the passage of the push plate 41. Uponthe push plate 41 moving past the release piece 11, the release piecerestores 11 itself elastically.

When the holder 2 is raised from the lowered position, the upper surfaceof the push plate 41 comes into contact with the lower end of therelease piece 11. The release piece 11 pushes the push plate 41 down,releasing the engaging hook 40 from the lug 23 as shown in FIG. 1C.

However, the device described has the following problem.

It is commercially desired that devices of this type be compact andshortened also in lateral width. Accordingly, the release piece 11 needsto be shortened also in lateral width M (see FIG. 13). Since the width Mis small, however, it is likely that the release piece 11 will notrestore itself elastically owing to plastic deformation if the amount ofdeflective deformation of the release piece 11 is great. To compact thedevice while eliminating this likelihood, the amount of deflectivedeformation of the release piece 11 is diminished by reducing theallowance L for the engagement of the push plate 41 with the releasepiece 11.

Because of the reduced allowance L, nevertheless, the engaging hook 40will not be released from the lug 23 with stability if the positionwhere the release means 10 is mounted differs from device to device.Thus, there is the likelihood that the engaging hook 40 will not bereleased from the lug 23 accurately.

An object of the present invention is to render the engaging piecereleasable from the lug with good stability when the holder is raisedeven if the release piece has a small lateral width.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Release means is mounted on a chassis 1 for disengaging a lock slide 4from a holder 2 when the holder 1 is pivotally moved upward from alowered position. The release means has a release piece 11 slanting withrespect to the plane of pivotal movement of the holder 2 and attached ata base end thereof to the chassis 1, the release piece 11 beingdeformable by deflecting outward and extending from its base end towarda cartridge inserting-unloading direction.

The release piece 11 is movable between a deflected position to whichthe release piece is elastically deformed outward by being pushed by thelock slide 4 when the holder 2 is lowered to permit passage of the lockslide 4 and a standby position in which the release piece 11 restoresitself elastically and disengages the lock slide 4 from the holder 2 bycoming into contact with the lock slide 4 when the holder 2 is pivotallymoved upward from the lowered position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disk recording orreproduction device;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a holder and a slide member;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cartridge proposed by the presentapplicant;

FIGS. 4A, 4B are side elevations of the holder in a raised position,FIG. 4A showing the holder before being loaded with the cartridge, FIG.4B showing the holder with the cartridge inserted therein completely;

FIGS. 5A, 5B are views showing the holder of FIGS. 4A, 4B, respectively,as it is seen from the direction A;

FIGS. 6A, 6B are sectional views of the holder of FIG. 4A as it is seenfrom the direction A, FIG. 6A showing the holder before being loadedwith the cartridge, FIG. 6B showing the holder while a shutter is beingopened;

FIGS. 7A, 7B are sectional views of the holder of FIG. 4B as it is seenfrom the direction A, FIG. 7A showing the same with a latch fitted inthe cartridge, FIG. 7B showing the same with the latch released from thecartridge;

FIG. 8A is a front view of a release means, FIG. 8B is a right sideelevation of the release means;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of another release means;

FIGS. 10A, 10B are side elevations of the release means and an engaginghook;

FIGS. 11A, 11B, 11C are side elevations of a conventional signalrecording or reproduction device for disks, FIG. 11A showing a holder asraised, FIG. 11B showing the holder as completely lowered, FIG. 11Cshowing the holder while being raised;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of conventional release means and theholder; and

FIG. 13 is a front view of the conventional release means.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

With reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the present inventionwill be described below in detail.

[General Description of Cartridge]

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cartridge 6 proposed by the presentapplicant. The cartridge 6 comprises a flat shell 9 having accommodatedtherein a disk 60. The shell 9 has a side face having a slit 5 and anupper wall having a recessed portion 65. An aperture 63 is formed in therecessed portion 65 for exposing the disk 60. A shutter 61 for coveringthe aperture 63 is slidably disposed in the recessed portion 65 andfitted over the slit 5. The upper surface of the shutter 61 ispositioned in the same plane as the upper surface of the shell 9. Theshutter 61 is biased toward a closing direction by a torsion spring 66within the shell 9 and is automatically closed even if openedinadvertently. A caved portion 64 is formed in the bottom wall of thecartridge 6. A slide member 3 is engageable in the caved portion 64 aswill be described later. With the shutter 61 opened, the disk 60 withinthe shell 9 is partly exposed to record signals thereon or reproducesignals therefrom.

[Overall Construction of the Device]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the recording or reproductiondevice for disks. A holder 2 is pivoted as at 25 at one end thereof to achassis 1 provided with a pickup 72, and the cartridge 6 is insertedinto the holder 2. The pickup 72 is movable toward or away from aturntable 73. A bracket 71 is attached to the pickup 72. A head lever 7provided with a recording head 70 at an outer end thereof is pivoted ata base end thereof to the bracket 71. The head lever 7 is advanced by alift mechanism (not shown) into the holder 2 through an opening 26formed in an upper wall of the holder 2. The recording head 70 isbrought into contact with the disk 60 within the cartridge 6 to recordsignals thereon as is known well.

Release means 10 is provided at one corner of front end of the chassis1. As will be described later, the release means 10 disengages thecartridge 6 from the holder 2 when the holder 2 as lowered is raised.The release means 10 is made from a metal plate by bending and in theform of an integral piece comprising a mount plate 13 in contact withthe chassis 1, a support wall 12 projecting upward from the mount plate13, and a release piece 11 extending from the upper end of the supportwall 12 toward a cartridge unloading direction and slanting with respectto a plane in which the holder 2 moves pivotally. The release piece 11is inclined upwardly outward and outwardly deflectable for deformation,with the support wall 12 serving as a base end portion. The releasepiece 11 has at a free end thereof an edge 14 so slanting as to give awidth decreasing toward the cartridge unloading direction.

The holder 2 has a bearing plate 27 inwardly projecting from the lowerend of a side plate thereof. The bottom wall of the cartridge 6 isplaced on the support plate 27. The cartridge 6 is restrained frombacklashing upward or downward within the holder 2 by the bearing plate27 and a protrusion 69 provided on the rear side of top wall of theholder 2. Extending outward from the lower end of one side wall of theholder 2 is a support plate 20 for supporting thereon the slide member3.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the holder 2 and the slidemember 3. The slide member 3 comprises an over laid plate 34 having avertical plate 35 extending upward from a side portion thereof. Slits 33are formed in the overlaid plate 34. The slits 33 have fitted thereinpins 28 projecting from the support plate 20, rendering the slide member3 movable in the cartridge inserting and unloading directions. The pin28 is a stepped pin comprising a small-diameter shank 28 b and a flange28 a formed at the top end thereof. The slots 33 in the slide member 3are each enlarged at one end to provide a large hole 33 a having aslightly larger diameter than the flange 28 a.

The slide member 3 is mounted on the support plate 20 by positioningeach large hole 33 a in register with the flange 28 a and thereaftermoving the slide member 3 rearward. The flanges 28 a prevent the slidemember 3 from slipping off. A restraining piece 85 extends outwardbeyond an upper edge of an apertured portion 21 of the holder 2, and thevertical plate 35 of the slide member 3 is positioned inwardly of therestraining piece 85. The slide member 3 is prevented from backlashingoutward by the restraining piece 85.

A lock slide 4 is disposed above the slide member 3. The lock slide 4 isprovided with slits 44, 44 having fitted therein pins 29, 29 projectingfrom the upper wall of the holder 2, whereby the lock slide 4 is mademovable in the cartridge inserting and unloading directions.

The slide member 3 of FIG. 2 is made from a metal plate by bending andis in the form of an integral piece comprising a tooth 31 projectinginward from the rear end of the vertical plate 35, a projection 32extending upward from the approximate midportion of length of thevertical plate 35, a latch 30 positioned at the front end of thevertical plate 35 and having an inwardly projecting end, and a springpiece 37 extending rearward from the rear end of the vertical plate 35.The tooth 31 advances into the holder 2 to come into contact with an endface of the shutter 61, and the spring piece 37 fits to the shutter 61.

The lock slide 4 is formed from a metal plate by bending and integrallyhas an engaging hook 40 extending from the lengthwise midportion thereoftoward its front end, and a spring retainer 42 projecting outward fromthe approximate midportion of length thereof. The engaging hook 40 iselastically deformable downward and has a slope 43 at its outer end. Apush plate 41 extends outward from the hook 40 in the vicinity of itsbase end.

The holder 2 has the aperture 21 for the tooth 31 to move in and a hole22 positioned forwardly of the aperture 21. The latch 30 fits into thehole 22, with the cartridge 6 inserted into the holder 2 completely. Alug 23 with which the hook 40 is engageable projects outward from theholder 2 above the hole 22.

A hook 24 is provided on the holder 2 at the rear end thereof. The lockslide 4 is biased rearward by a tension spring 8 engaged with the hook24 and the spring retainer 42 of the lock slide 4. The contact of thefront ends of the slit portions 44 with the pins 29 restrains the lockslide 4 from moving rearward. The projection 32 of the slide member 3bears on the rear side of the spring retainer 42 and is pulled alongwith the lock side 4 by the tension spring 8. The biasing force of thetension spring 8 is greater than the shutter biasing force of thetorsion spring 66 inside the cartridge 6.

The cartridge 6 is inserted into the holder 2 as pivotally moved upward.Signals are recorded on the disk or reproduced therefrom, with thecartridge 6 positioned as opposed to the chassis 1 by the downwardpivotal movement of the holder 2. The head lever 7 will not be describedbelow for convenience of description.

FIGS. 4A, 4B are side elevations of the holder 2 in a raised position,FIG. 4A showing the holder before being loaded with the cartridge 6,FIG. 4B showing the holder with the cartridge 6 inserted thereincompletely. Before the cartridge 6 is inserted, the engaging hook 40 ispositioned to the rear of the lug 23. The latch 30 is positioned to therear of the hole 22 in the holder 2 and deflected outward in contactwith the side wall of the holder 2.

A description will be given below of the insertion of the cartridge 6and the upward and downward movement of the holder 2.

[Inserting the Cartridge]

FIGS. 5A, 5B are views showing the holder 2 of FIGS. 4A, 4B as it isseen from the direction A. FIGS. 6A, 6B are sectional views of theholder 2 of FIG. 4A as it is seen from the direction A. FIGS. 7A, 7B aresectional views of the holder 2 of FIG. 4B as it is seen from thedirection A. For convenience of illustration, the lock slide 4 and thetension spring 8 are not shown in FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B.

Before the cartridge is inserted as shown in FIG. 5A, the engaging hook40 is positioned inwardly of the release means 10, which will notinterfere with the movement of the lock slide 4.

When the cartridge 6 is inserted into the holder 2 from the state shownin FIG. 6A, the tooth 31 of the slide member 3 fits into the slit 5 ofthe cartridge 6 and comes into contact with the shutter 61. Since theforce of the tension spring 8 biasing the slide member 3 rearward isgreater than the force of the torsion spring 66 of the cartridge 6, theslide member 3 remains unmoved as seen in FIG. 6B even if the cartridge6 is pushed. The shutter 61 is opened against the torsion spring 66.

When the shutter 61 is opened completely, the shutter 61 is brought intocontact with the rear edge of the recessed portion 65 as seen in FIG.7B. The latch 30 does not reach the hole 22 since the slide member 3remains unmoved.

The cartridge 6 is further pushed in. The shutter 61, which does notopen further, pushes the tooth 31 of the slide member 3, advancing theslide member 3 to fit the latch 30 into the hole 22 as seen in FIG. 7A.The latch 30 inserted through the hole 22 lightly engages in the cavedportion 64 of the cartridge 6, holding the cartridge 6 completelyinserted in the holder.

On the other hand, the projection 32 of the slide member 3 shown in FIG.4A is in contact with the spring retainer 42 of the lock slide 4, sothat the lock slide 4 advances against the tension spring 8 when theslide member 3 is pushed. The slope 43 of the engaging hook 40 in thestate shown in FIG. 4A comes into contact with the lug 23, whereby thehook 40 is deformed by downward deflection. Upon the slope 43 movingpast the lug 23, the engaging hook 40 restores itself elastically,coming into engagement with the lug 23 as shown in FIG. 4B.

The engagement of the hook 40 with the lug 23 restrains the lock slide 4from moving in the cartridge unloading direction, and the cartridge 6 isheld engaged by the latch 30. With the latch 30 fitting in the hole 22of the holder 2, the slide member 3 is unlikely to move out of theholder 2 inadvertently.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the lock slide 4 has its push plate 41 positionedabove the release piece 11, with the cartridge completely inserted inthe holder.

[Lowering the Holder]

For recording or playback, the holder 2 is pivotally moved down, withthe cartridge completely inserted in the holder 2. FIG. 8A is a frontview of the release means 10, and FIG. 8B is a right side elevation ofthe release means 10. When the lock slide 4 is moved down with thedescent of the holder 2, the push plate 41 of the lock slide 4 comesinto contact with the slanting edge 14 of the release piece 11 as shownin FIG. 5B and FIGS. 8A, 8B. Since the engaging hook 40 is restrainedfrom deflecting upward and deforming by contact with the lug 23 (seeFIG. 4B), the release piece 11 deflects outward as shown in FIG. 8A topermit passage of the push plate 41. The position to which the releasepiece 11 is outwardly deflected for deformation will be referred to asthe deflected position.

The release piece 11 is brought into contact with the slanting edge 14for the following reason. The push plate 41 is likely to be positionedabove the release piece 11 owing to an error in mounting the holder 2 ordimensional variations of components. If the slanting edge 14 is notformed as indicated by a chain line in FIG. 8B, the release piece 11will not be deflected laterally, i.e., outward, for deformation merelyby being depressed at its upper end by the push plate 41 when the holder2 is lowered. It is therefore likely that the push plate 41 will beunable to move past the release piece 11.

According to the present embodiment, however, the push plate 41 lowerswhile pushing the slanting edge 14, even if the position where theholder is mounted somewhat differs from device to device. The releasepiece 11 accurately escapes sideways. This enables the push plate 41 tomove past the release piece 11 reliably.

FIGS. 10A, 10B are enlarged side elevations of the release means 10 andthe engaging hook 40. Upon the push plate 41 moving past the releasepiece 11, the release piece 11 restores itself elastically to return tothe original position, i.e., to a standby position.

[Raising the Holder]

The holder 2 is pivotally moved upward when the cartridge 6 is to beunloaded from the holder 2.

When the holder 2 is pivotally raised, the push plate 41 of the lockslide 4 comes into contact with the lower end of the release piece 11 asseen in FIG. 10B. The release piece 11 is opposed to a plane in whichthe holder 2 is pivotally moved upward and downward and is therefore notreadily deflectable upward or downward. Accordingly, the release piece11 deflects the engaging hook 40 downward for deformation by contactwith the push plate 40, releasing the hook 40 form engagement with thelug 23. The lock slide 4 is moved in the cartridge unloading directionby the tension spring 8. The lock slide 4 pushes the projection 32 ofthe slide member 3 rearward as shown in FIG. 4A to unload the cartridge6.

The unloading movement of the cartridge 6 is described by the applicantin Japanese Patent Application No. 11-74770 (which is an invention notlaid open) and will not be described in detail.

According to the present embodiment, the release piece 11 has a lengthextending generally in parallel to the cartridge inserting-unloadingdirection and is therefore greatly deformable by deflecting laterally,i.e., outward, about its base end portion. This makes it possible toprovide a great allowance for the engagement of the lock slide 4 withthe releases piece. Accordingly, the lock slide 4 can be released fromengagement with the holder 2 with good stability.

Further the space for the provision of the release piece 11 needs onlyto have a lateral width corresponding to the amount of lateraldeflective deformation thereof permitting the passage of the lock slide4, so that the lateral width can be shortened.

Incidentally, the release piece 11 of the release means 10 needs only tobe such that it is outwardly deflectable for deformation with thesupport wall 12 serving as its base end portion. As shown in FIG. 9,therefore, the release piece 11 may extend straight rearward from thesupport wall 12, with its forward end only inclined.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[Lowering the Holder]

When the holder 2 is pivotally moved down from its raised position, thelock slide 4 comes into contact with the release piece 11, deflectingthe release piece 11 laterally, i.e., outward, for deformation. Therelease piece 11 permits passage of the lock slide 4 and elasticallyrestores itself to return to the original position upon passage of thelock slide 4.

[Raising the Holder from Lowered Position]

When the holder 2 is raised, the lock slide 4 deflects for deformationby contact with the lower end of the release piece 11. The lock slide 4is disengaged from the holder 2.

The release piece 11 has a large length extending in the cartridgeinserting-unloading direction and is therefore greatly deformable bydeflecting outward about its base end portion, so that the allowance forthe engagement of the lock slide 4 with the release piece can be madegreat. This renders the lock slide 4 releasable from engagement with theholder 2 with good stability.

Furthermore, the lateral width of the space for the provision of therelease piece 11 needs only to correspond to the amount of lateraldeflective deformation thereof permitting the passage of the lock slide4. The lateral width of the space for the installation of the releasepiece 11 in the prior art must not be smaller than the length of therelease piece 11 as shown in FIG. 12. Accordingly, the lateral width canbe made smaller than conventionally.

What is claimed is:
 1. A signal recording or reproduction device fordisks which comprise a holder pivoted at a base end thereof to a chassisand pivotally movable for accommodating therein a cartridge enclosing adisk therein, a lock slide mounted on the holder and movable incartridge inserting and unloading directions, the lock slide beingmovable with the insertion of the cartridge to engage with the holder,and release means for disengaging the lock slide from the holder whenthe holder is pivotally moved upward from a lowered position, the signalrecording or reproducing device being characterized in that: the releasemeans has a release piece slanting with respect to the plane of pivotalmovement of the holder and attached at a base end thereof to thechassis, the release piece being elastically deformable outward andextending from the base end approximately in parallel to the cartridgeinserting-unloading directions, the release piece being movable betweena deflected position to which the release piece is elastically deformedoutward in a plane parallel to the chassis by being pushed by the lockslide when the holder is lowered to permit passage of the lock slide anda standby position in which the release piece restores itselfelastically and disengages the lock slide from the holder by coming intocontact with the lock slide when the holder is pivotally moved upwardfrom the lowered position.
 2. A signal recording or reproduction devicefor disks according to claim 1 wherein the holder is provided with a lugfor the lock slide to engage with, and when the holder is pivotallymoved down, the lock slide comes into contact with the release piecewhile in engagement with the lug and is restrained from deforming bydeflection.
 3. A signal recording or reproduction device for disks whichcomprise a holder pivoted at a base end thereof to a chassis andpivotally movable for accommodating therein a cartridge enclosing a disktherein, a lock slide mounted on the holder and movable in cartridgeinserting and unloading directions, the lock slide being movable withthe insertion of the cartridge to engage with the holder, and releasemeans for disengaging the lock slide from the holder when the holder ispivotally moved upward from a lowered position, the signal recording orreproducing device being characterized in: that: the release means has arelease piece slanting with respect to the plane of pivotal movement ofthe holder and attached at a base end thereof to the chassis, therelease piece being elastically deformable outward and extending fromthe base end approximately in parallel to the cartridgeinserting-unloading directions, the release piece being movable betweena deflected position to which the release piece is elastically deformedoutward by being pushed by the lock slide when the holder is lowered topermit passage of the lock slide and a standby position in which therelease piece restores itself elastically and disengages the lock slidefrom the holder by coming into contact with the lock slide when theholder is pivotally moved upward from the lowered position, wherein theportion of the release piece to be brought into contact with the lockslide is a slanting edge so inclined that the release piece has a widthdecreasing toward the cartridge unloading direction.